Cook s note: Scheiber Porcini Powder is sold by Chef Johnny s Products (www.chefjohnnysproducts.com). It is a food service product, but is available to the home cook.

Also, to simplify recipe, you may use pre-made crepes (such as Frieda s) and use the leek in the cream cheese/duxell mixture.

Start with the mushroom duxelle. Cut mushrooms and onions in fine dice. Rehydrate mushrooms if using dry. Saute the fine-diced onions and whole mushrooms (dried and medium ones) in butter until tender.

Deglaze with port and then add garlic, dried porcini powder, sage, and chopped parsley, and cook for a little longer, until almost dry. Set the duxelle aside so it cools before adding to the cream cheese.

While the duxelle cools, make the crepes. Make the crepe batter by adding milk, flour, and egg and whisking until smooth. Cut the leeks fine and soften up in some of the butter in a saute pan. Mix with crepe batter. Season saute pan with butter, then with a little oil. This will yield 15 crepes or enough for 6 half-short stacks.

As each crepe is cooked, spread crepes out on a sheet tray and let cool down.

When you have a 3-inch stack, put them in the refrigerator so the cream cheese can stiffen up, which helps to cut it in the shape desired or cut in half.

Yield: 6 half short stacks

Source: Chef Marcel Hesseling

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